DD-WRT Rollback

How to revert DD-WRT to factory firmware of a Linksys WRT1900ACS router

Maybe, after installing DD-WRT on your Linksys WRT1900ACS router you realise that it is not for you or maybe you want to try a different router firmware such as OpenWrt or Tomato, so you want to restore the original Linksys firmware on your router. Here’s how you can do it.

DISCLAIMER: Be aware that there is a potential risk of bricking your router while installing a non official firmware. Do it at your own risk. You assume all responsibility for anything you do and I will accept no responsibility for anything that should go wrong while following this guide, such as bricking your router.

Step 1: Download everything you need

This is kind of obvious, but important. You should download all firmware files needed in this process before you start because you won’t have Internet access during part of the process.

DD-WRT to factory firmware

Download the regression firmware for your router from https://source.wifihell.com/3-DD-WRT-KONG/K3-AC-MVEBU/LinksysFW/, in my case WRT1900ACS_ddwrt-to-factory.img.bin

Linksys firmware

Download the latest firmware for your router from Linksys website. Remember to choose the right firmware for your router version. The hardware version is located beside or beneath the model number and is labeled version, ver. or V. If there is no version number beside the model number on your Linksys product, the device is version 1. If you still have trouble finding your version number, see the complete article at Linksys Official Support site to learn more.

Step 2: Flash from DD-WRT to the factory firmware

Now connect your computer to the router using an ethernet cable and log in to your DD-WRT admin page (http://192.168.1.1). Then navigate to ‘Administration > Firmware Upgrade‘ and select the DD-WRT to factory firmware file we downloaded earlier (‘WRT1900ACS_ddwrt-to-factory.img.bin‘) and click on the ‘Upgrade‘ button.

Wait for the router to flash the firmware and reboot itself.

Step 3: Update Linksys firmware

Disconnect the Internet cable

Before updating the Linksys firmware I like to disconnect the router from the Internet to avoid some problems I had in the past.

Update Router Firmware

Enter the Linksys admin page (http://192.168.1.1) with the default admin password (‘admin‘).

Navigate to the Connectivity section and locate the Router Firmware Update section on the right hand side.

Click on the Choose File button in the Manual section, select the firmware image that you downloaded from the linksys site earlier (‘FW_WRT1900ACS_1.0.3.187766_prod.img‘) and then hit Start.

Wait until the firmware installation is complete.

Factory Reset

With your router connecter to power and turned on, press and hold the Reset button on the back of your router for 10 seconds until the power indicator flashes.

Router Setup

Wait a couple of minutes until the power indicator stops flashing to start the ‘Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Setup‘ (http://192.168.1.1) and then click on ‘Manual configuration‘ to start the configuration of your Linksys WRT1900ACS Router with the latest stock firmware.

 


Some handy links

Kong ddwrt to factory firmwares
Linksys WRT1900ACS Downloads
dd-wrt forum: WRT1900ACS V2 Kong’s reflash firm to restore Linksys firmwar

0 Comments

Comments are closed